On Monday, Feb 13, the Lions Health Screening Van will be screening 200 students for hearing and sight at the Viewlands Elementary.

Sponsored by the Ballard Lions Club, these screenings are available free of charge.

Staffed by volunteer health professionals, the professionally equipped mobile unit provides vision, hearing, glaucoma, diabetes, and blood pressure screening to more than 30,000 people annually, including 25,000 school children.

According to the Northwest Lions Foundation out of the 27,000 kids screened each year, about 15 percent are found to have problems.

"Without early detection – especially for the youngest grades – these problems cause classroom difficulties that push kids down. First they get behind their classmates in school and struggle to catch up. Far too often they can’t and face economic disadvantage later in life. For the 4,500 kids detected with sight or hearing problems each year, the Lions Health Screening Unit is an escape hatch from this trap,"according to the Lions Foundation.

The LHSU is a program of the Northwest Lions Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization founded in 1969 by Lions Clubs in the Northwest. The LHSU is able to keep its service free through the efforts of civic-minded volunteers, local Lions Club sponsorship, and the Northwest Lions Foundation.

The Ballard Lions Club invites the community to stop by Viewlands Elementary on February 13 to learm more about this van, and how the club supports it.

Viewlands Elementary School is located at 10525 3rd Ave NW.